PTI Christmas Card

I'm home & trying to get back into the swing of things. Had a great time in Indianapolis visiting my cousin & his family. Dave's wife gave me her ticket so I could go to the Colts game. Would have been better to win, but had fun anyway.  Weather wasn't bad, but too much humidity for my liking the first few days. They had lots of fun activities planned & I didn't let a cold slow me down. Another highlight of the trip was meeting my blogging friend, Brenda.  

It really felt like we'd known each other for years.  We enjoyed a LONG lunch just chatting away.  Good thing the place wasn't busy!  I wasn't able to meet up with my other Indy friends, so guess I'll just have to go back--haha!  

CARD BY DAWN MCVEY

It will be awhile before I catch up with all of you as we have unexpected company coming & I'm working the weekend.  It's been way over a month, so I'm a bit nervous. Did manage to make a card last night for the PTI Create Along With Us challenge.  Dawn's card made me think of Snowflake Flurries, one of my favorite sets.  

I used her color combo of Raspberry Fizz & red--my ink is Memento Love Letter.  The sentiment is from PTI Peaceful Poinsettia & the die cuts are from Twig Wreath.  I brushed them with Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens & the black dot is Pico Embellisher. Nuvo drops are used in the background & the sentiment panel is die cut with AJVD Polka Dot Rectangle Backdrop. Thanks for your visits while I was gone & for your patience as I catch up.  I'm also entering ATSM, CropStop, Penny Black & More & Word Art Wednesday.

Another Thanksgiving Card

One last card before my trip.  Fall is almost here, so I was inspired to play along in the Impression Obsession challenge to use Fall Colors.  

I love the beautiful IO leaf image which includes flourishes & text.  I don't know the name or number as it came unlabeled, as did the sentiment.  The leaf was stamped 3 times in Versafine Vintage Sepia which allowed me to then add the watercolors.  I scribbled each color on a small acrylic block, added water & pressed onto the panel.  The leaves were also over-stamped with Delicata Golden Glitz.  I heat embossed the sentiment & then misted the panel with gold Shimmer Spritz.  Gold Nuvo dots finish it off.  I'm also entering Penny Black & More, SSS Monday, Time Out & Virginia's View (gold Shimmer Spritz).  Thanks so much for stopping by & I'll catch up with you when I get back.

A Couple Cards

Selfies are kind of difficult when one of you is 5'6" & the other is 6'5"!!  This is the best I could do to capture our 37th anniversary.  He loved his card ("You should enter this one in a contest") & he gave me a gorgeous card with pink & roses--guess he knows me--haha!
I'm getting ready to visit family out of state. Hubby & Fritz will hold down the fort.  I'll probably get behind on reading blogs, but will catch up with you when I get back.  I've been admiring lots of Concord & 9th products.  

Luckily, my friend, Barb, sent me some of their die cuts recently so I made a card for Ellen Hutson Mix It Up.  I used Bristol paper so I could use a Zig. By blending with a waterbrush the red marker goes from light pink to red.  The flowers are covered with wink of Stella & embellished with one of the dots I won at The Playground, where I'm also entering my card. The same red marker colored the mat.  I clear embossed the stacked sentiment from Ellen Hutson. This turned out to be one of my favorite cards!  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

Next is my hydrangea card, even though I don't have a hydrangea stamp or die!  Thanks to Karen D's inspiration, I tried out the technique of putting some petals on watercolor paper & running it through my die cut machine.  

Decided against adding color to it--afraid it'd be ruined.  Just added a few purple splatters & some Nuvo dots.  I cut it out with my new MFT oval & added the SSS die cut sentiment which is cut from green cardstock with a purple shadow.  This time I used the Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen for shimmer.  Thought the old Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder made a nice background.  I'm entering SSS Flickr #53 & Die Cut Divas.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Ombre Cluster Leaves & Rose with Mists

Happy Labor Day Weekend to all my U.S. friends. Kind of a mixed bag as I started today by attending a memorial service for the mother of childhood friends & tomorrow we celebrate our 37th anniversary.  
Another great PTI MIM video by Dawn.  The technique is Ombre Cluster Stamping.  Easy technique that works with lots of different images.

Maybe our change in the weather & helping hubby with the first leaf raking of the season has something to do with my choice to use images from Turning a New Leaf with these inks: Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold & Versafine Vintage Sepia. Love the mixed font of this sentiment from Autumn Adornments & the faux stitching from Lil' Inker.  

I misted with gold Shimmer Spritz, added 3 PPP gold sequins & matted the panel to Canyon Clay cardstock. I love to send Thanksgiving cards & now I'm inspired to make some more!  I'm also entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Die Cut Divas, Time Out, Word Art Wednesday & Flickr Love Group.  

Here's a redo of the sympathy card I made for my friends using Stamplorations rose, a sentiment from PTI Through the Trees & a very old script stamp.  I stamped the rose in Versafine Vintage Sepia & then spritzed with Tattered Angels Wheatfield, Cork & Gold.  Next I sprayed a bit of mist in the caps so I could add color to the image with a paintbrush.  I lightly stamped the script in Distress Ink vintage photo after attaching the torn panel to the kraft card.  All the edges are sponged with vintage photo.  I'm entering Stamplorations Theme & Sketch, Stamplorations Anything Goes & CropStop.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

PBSC Nature Theme with Stickeroos

I have tons of Penny Black stamps which I often use. However, I seem to have trouble using my Stickeroos which is really silly since they come already beautifully colored.  Recently I included some in a card mailed to a blogging friend & that made me determined to use them myself.  Worked out great since the September challenge at PBSC is Nature.

First I attached the stickers to cardstock & cut them out. Stickles was added to the flower centers & to the butterflies. Kraft cardstock was die cut with Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Two & then PB glory of modesty was stamped in Distress Ink brushed corduroy.  I also blended the edges with brushed corduroy & tea dye.  Decided not to add a sentiment & I'll just write a message to a friend on the inside. There's lots of wonderful inspiration from my teammates--hope you'll grab your PB supplies & join us this month!  I'm entering Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge, SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Pink & Orange for Christmas

What a change in the weather as we finally got a little rain after 51 dry days! Thankfully, no bad storms here & my thoughts are with everyone in the path of Hermine.
I really love the SSS Holiday Frames, so pulled it out when I saw the beautiful ColourQ challenge.  I made the fun striped background with Copics YR07 & RV04.  A very old snowflake is stamped in Distress Ink spiced marmalade.  The die cut snowflake & star are covered in Crystal Stickles.  Love this Snowfall embossing folder by Taylored Expressions. I'm also entering Weekly Christmas Card Challenges, SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

The 12 Kits of Occasions

You read that right--I'm joining in this month as Lisa's Guest Designer for The 12 Kits of Occasions--what an honor!  Gotta admit--it was a bit nerve wracking as I didn't want to mess up any pieces of the beautiful Sweet Pea kit.  I managed to pretty much fix my coloring goofs & have 4 cards to show you today with more to come.

I'm entering SSS Wednesday.

I'll be sending this to a blogging friend for her birthday, so I'm entering CCCB.

I'm entering Word Art Wednesday.

I'm entering my shaker with the faux stitching at SSS Monday.

Long post & pretty self-explanatory.  I actually colored the 2nd & 3rd cards with Copics--yah! My little girl's mom keeps her covered with sunscreen--haha! Someday maybe I'll try coloring skin.  Next, though, I want to try coloring flowers.  The shaker window is made from one of the glassine envelopes Lisa used to hold pieces of the kit & I really like the look which is very different from using acetate. Thank you so much, Lisa--I loved creating with your darling kit!  Be sure to check out the 12 Kits Blog for lots of inspiration from the very talented DT & 2 giveaways! Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.